ONCOmmunity

High Expression of MRE11-RAD50-NBS1 Is Associated with Poor Prognosis and Chemoresistance in Gastric Cancer.

By: Bolag Altan, Takehiko Yokobori, Munenori Ide, Tuya Bai, Toru Yanoma, Akiharu Kimura, Norimichi Kogure, Masaki Suzuki, Pinjie Bao, Erito Mochiki, Kyoichi Ogata, Tadashi Handa, Kyoichi Kaira, Masahiko Nishiyama, Takayuki Asao, Tetsunari Oyama, Hiroyuki Kuwano

Department of General Surgical Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma, Japan altanbolag@gunma-u.ac.jp bori45@gunma-u.ac.jp.
2016-7-27; doi:

Abstract

Background

The MRN complex of meiotic recombination 11 (MRE11), DNA repair protein Rad50 (RAD50) and Nijmegen breakage syndrome 1 (NBS1) proteins coordinate the detection and repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). DNA DSB repair-dependent chemoresistance likely has an effect on the treatment of human cancer.

Materials

We investigated the expression of MRN complex in human gastric cancer (GC) tissues using immunohistochemistry and analyzed its clinical significance and prognostic relevance.

Results

The expression of MRN complex was significantly associated with clinical factors including poorer prognosis and negatively associated with the expression of DNA damage marker phosphorylated H2A histone family, member X (γH2AX) in the nucleus. In the biopsy specimens, low expression of MRE11 correlated with good response to chemotherapy and surgical resection after down-staging by chemotherapy. Furthermore, the expression levels of MRE11 and RAD50 were independent predictors of surgical resection after chemotherapy.

Conclusion

The high expression of MRN complex constituents could be a predictor for poor prognosis and chemoresistance in GC.